House Budget a Bit Rosier for Watertown, Particularly in Special Ed Funds

The Fiscal 2014 town budget will be tight, but the budget passed by the House of Representatives provides some hope that state funding won't be as bad as expected.

Watertown will receive slightly more Chapter 70 school funding as well as some extra local aid money, but Watertown State Rep. Jonathan Hecht said the biggest improvement comes in special education dollars.

"The other good thing is the Special Education Circuit Breaker is pretty strong," Hecht said. 

The money provided by the state goes to the highest cost special education students. The district pays the first $40,000, or so, for each student, said District Business Director Jack Loughran, and the state reimburses part of anything beyond that.

The Circuit Breaker law calls for the state to reimburse 75 percent of the cost, but most years it is not close to that ratio. Watertown school officials budgeted for a reimbursement of 60 percent for Fiscal 2014.

Hecht said the House budget calls for reimbursement of around 72 percent, which is even higher than the governor's proposal of 70 percent.

Watertown would get slightly more Chapter 70 school aid, Hecht said, and the town would also get a bit more unrestricted local aid.

"It works out to be about an extra $200,000," Hecht said. 

Hecht plans to push for more school funds, because Watertown does not get as much as most towns.

"On Chapter 70, especially, I will be pushing to get the state to live up to their commitments," Hecht said.